[Press Release] HIP's Statement on SCUSD's New Superintendent

Rebuilding Trust and Engaging Diverse Parents Among Challenges for New Superintendent

Community Members Optimistic About Collaborating to Better Serve Students and Families

Sacramento, CA -- On Thursday, the Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) voted to appoint a new Superintendent to oversee the district’s schools. Mr. Jose Banda, previously the Superintendent for Seattle Public Schools and Anaheim Unified School District, has a track record of engaging limited-English proficient families and improving student achievement among low-income communities. This background will serve Mr. Banda well as he enters a school district that has struggled with on-going strife and growing dismay among Sacramento’s diverse families. In particular, Mr. Banda inherits a district where the closure of seven neighborhoods schools has driven away hundreds of students from SCUSD and distrust has mounted as parents have felt continually ignored.

Despite these challenges, Hmong Innovating Politics (HIP), a community based organization actively involved in supporting parents during the school closure is eager to start anew with Mr. Banda’s leadership. As HIP organizer Laura Vu describes, “Having worked with parents for the last couple of years, I know that the community is eager to move forward with leadership that brings people together and reaches out to parents and families. We are very optimistic that Mr. Banda will draw from his experience working with immigrant and limited-English proficient students and families. Because we recognize that there are many challenges ahead, we are dedicated to working alongside the new Superintendent to help improve the outcomes of all students.”

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**HIP is a grassroots-organizing group whose mission is to strengthen the political power of Hmong and disenfranchised communities through innovative civic engagement and strategic grassroots mobilization. We envision a Sacramento of empowered communities that thrive in a socially and economically just democracy.**